Brake for hay-wagons



- J. HOFMANN. Jr.

BRAKE FOR HAYIWAGONS'.

No. 552,708: a Patented Jan. 7,-1896.

2 SheetsShet 2,

(No Model.)

J. HOFMANN, Jr. BRAKE FOR HAY WAGONSL Patented Jan. '7, 1896.

AN DREW BfiRAHAM. FHUTOUINQWASHINGTOMD C NiTE STATES J OHN IIOFMANN, JR., OF STEARLEYVILLE,ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF WV. 11. FUNK, OF B OVLING GREEN, INDIANA.

BRA-KEFOR HAY-WAGONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 552,708, dated January 7, 1896. A li ti fil d November 30, 1894:; Serial No. 530,443. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN HOFMANN, J12, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stearleyville, in the county of Olay and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Brake for Ilay-Vagons, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in brakes for hay-wagons.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive brake, adapted to be readily applied to hay wagons or racks, and capable of enabling the front standard of a hay rack or wagon to be readily folded without interfering with it, and adapted to be operated when the standard is in an upright position or is folded upon the frame or body.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hay-rack provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionaLview. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the ratchet device.

Like numerals of reference indicate correspondin g parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a hay rack or frame of a haywagon, of any suitable construction, and pro vided at its front with a hinged standard 2, designed to support the front end of aridgepole. (Not shown.) The standard is composed of converging sides 3, and upper transverse pieces 4 and 5, arranged at different heights and adapted to receive the front end of a ridge-pole, in order that a load of hay maybe compactly secured upon the hay-rack,

. to enable the same to be safely carried over rough roads.

The front standard 2 is hingedly connected shaft has fixed to it a gear-wheel 11, which meshes with a bevel pinion 12, fixed to the lower end of an operating-shaft 13. The operating-shaft 13 extends longitudinally of the front standard, and is journaled in suitable "justment, to maintain the brake applied to the wheels by a ratchet-wheel 16, fixed to the shaft 13 and located at the top of the standard, and a pawl 17, pivoted to the transverse piece 4 and engaging the ratchet-wheel, and maintained in such engagement by a spring 18, secured to one of the sides of the standard. The pawl is provided intermediate of its ends and has one portion engaging the ratchetwheel, and its other portion forms a handle. The spring has one end bearing against the engaging end of the pawl, and it has considerable length and is provided intermediate of its ends with a curved portion or bend, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4c of the accompanying drawings, and the pawl is adapted to swing around out of engagement with the ratchetwheel, where it will be held by the curved portion of the spring. This arrangement of gear-wheels permits the front standard .2 to be swung upward for use or folded down upon the hay-rack without operating the brake, either to apply or release the same, and it also enables the brake to be applied, whether the standard be folded or be in its operative position or at any intermediate point.

The gear-wheels are protected from becoming clogged by hay or the like by casing or shield 19, which is curved and which has its upper end secured to the transverse bar 14, and which is secured at its lower end to a depending bar 20. The bar 20 forms a bearing for the rock-shaft, and is secured to the transverse bar It and 'to the adjacent side of the standard.

It will be seen that the brake mechanism is simple and exceedingly inexpensive in construction, that it is adapted to be applied to any ordinary construction of hay-rack, and that the rock-shaft, besides serving as the means for communicating motion from the operating-shaft to the operated rods 9 and 10, also serves as efficient means for hinging the front standard to the frame of the hay-rack.

The operating-rod 10 is mounted in suitable guides, and may be connected with any ordinary form of brake-beam or brake-levers requiring a straight forward draft to produce an application of the brake-shoes.

Changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this in- Vention.

WVhat I claim is The combination with a frame, a transverse shaft 6 arranged horizontally and extending entirely across the frame and having its ends journaled at opposite sides thereof and provided at one end with an arm designed to be connected with the brake mechanism, a standard provided at its bottom with bearings and receiving the shaft 6 therein and hinged by the latter to the frame, whereby the shaft performs the double function of a shaft and a pintle, a vertically disposed beveled gear wheel fixed to the shaft 6, the shaft 13 extending longitudinally of the standard and journaled thereon and provided at its lower end with a beveled pinion arranged at right angles to the gear wheel and meshing with the same and adapted to revolve freely and automatically around the gear wheel when the standard is swung upward or downward, a curved shield or casin g fixed to the bottom of the standard and movable with the same and receiving the gear wheel, a ratchet wheel located at the top of the standard and fixed to the shaft 13, a pawl pivoted intermediate of its ends to the standard and having one end engaging the ratchet wheel and having its other end forming a handle, and a spring secured at one end to the standard and having its other end bearing against the engaging end of the pawl and provided intermediate of its ends with a curved portion and adapted to permit the pawl to be swung around so as to hold it out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN IIOFMANN, J R. \Vitnesses:

M. A. KENNEDY, R. L. KENNEDY. 

